


Let Down Your Guard

by voxmyriad



Series: Commander Cody Week 2k21 [6]
Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Force-Sensitive CC-2224 | Cody, Gen, Mentions of Anakin and a little cameo, once again Shippy If You Squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-18
Updated: 2021-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-27 11:54:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30122367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/voxmyriad/pseuds/voxmyriad
Summary: Cody had learned early in life: never let down your guard.OR: Force-Sensitive Cody trusts one (1) Jedi General with his secret
Relationships: CC-2224 | Cody & Obi-Wan Kenobi
Series: Commander Cody Week 2k21 [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2208858
Comments: 7
Kudos: 104





	Let Down Your Guard

**Author's Note:**

> I've always liked playing with Force-sensitive clones, and it hurts me to think of Cody suppressing his sensitivity his whole life, so of course I had to share the pain with everyone else, you're welcome!

_Never let down your guard._ They'd learned that in cadet training, usually right before their trainer would hook an unsuspecting cadet's knee and dump him into a heap on the floor. But Cody hadn't needed telling. He'd learned that lesson long before he'd first put on a cadet's uniform. Long before he'd become _Cody_.

He'd learned it the first time he'd reached for a pair of blocks that were too far away, and they'd _moved_. He hadn't touched them, but they'd moved anyway. He'd tried it again, and it had happened again, and it had been _frightening_. He hadn't tried it a third time.

A flash session had taught him about the Jedi, the incredible things they could do with the Force, like moving objects with their minds. The lesson had also taught that clones couldn't do that. Clones weren't Force-sensitive. He absorbed the lesson and didn't tell the instructor that it wasn't accurate information.

He'd gotten better at pressing it down, _down_ , every time it wanted to well back up. Even General Shaak Ti, as she passed her eyes over him in approval after his squad had scored highly on a training module, even she hadn't been able to see it. He'd thought he was safe.

Then he'd made the mistake. He'd let his guard down.

The trouble, of course, was General Skywalker, burning like a sun, as he always did. It was difficult to be near him for long—he was simply too _bright_ —and Cody tried to avoid prolonged exposure. He suspected this had made Obi-Wan decide Cody didn't care for Anakin, but Cody had no other choice. He'd never learned to make shields, and even tamping down his natural Force-sensitivity didn't help much in Anakin's presence.

Preparing tea with his General, like any other post-mission quiet moment, he'd had the teapot poised over the first of the two utilitarian mugs and sensed General Skywalker coming down the corridor toward his office. He'd set the pot down again, tea unpoured.

"We're going to be interrupted," he said to Obi-Wan's inquisitive look.

Cody had realized his mistake just as the door chimed, but by then it was too late. It _was_ General Skywalker, apologetic for interrupting but they'd received intel they'd been waiting for, it had come in earlier than they'd expected, if they acted on it now they could head off a shipment of raw material destined for a droid factory, and Cody missed the rest. His head buzzed.

He shook it impatiently and crammed his helmet back on, although this wasn't a combat situation. The comforting onslaught of information from the heads-up display helped calm his mind, redirecting his attention as they went to the war room and observed the transmission, analyzed the intel, crafted a strategy. Cody was present, even participating, but some part of him was still inwardly paralyzed. Waiting.

He didn't need to wait long. As soon as they walked out of the war room, Obi-Wan turned to him and said, in that particular calm tone he used when something was very definitely on his mind, "We never quite managed our tea. Care to join me in my office for a cup while we get started on this?"

"Of course, General," Cody said, grateful for the helmet that hid his wince. There was no getting out of this. The only way out was through.

They worked first, bringing up a map of hyperspace lanes with the projected course of the supply ship running through it in red, the positions of the 501st and 212th picked out in orange and blue, the systems they could easily intercept it highlighted in green. It was an easy decision to choose one, and then the work was finished, and they could talk.

They had to _talk._

Cody sat still, his helmet on his lap, as Obi-Wan prepared and poured two cups of tea, to finish their interrupted post-battle ritual. He accepted his cup and waited, and after Obi-Wan had tasted his cup and set it back down, the question arrived. "How exactly _did_ you know we were going to be interrupted?"

It would have been easier to answer that question if Cody had managed to come up with a plausible lie in the interim, but unfortunately he was still drawing a blank.

"I'd had a feeling we might get that intel faster than we thought."

No, no, he'd never buy that, and sure enough, Obi-Wan's hand came up to stroke his beard, a sure sign he was pondering the answer instead of taking it in stride the way Cody had hoped he would.

"I don't think that's it."

"Dunno what else it might be, General."

"I think I do. In fact, I—"

"No!" Perhaps it was the gentle certainty behind it, the tone of looming inevitability, but Cody found himself on his feet and backing away, backing away from his _General_ , a man he trusted, a man he'd die for without hesitation. His helmet had hit the floor with a startlingly loud _clunk_ , rolling away from them toward the door, ending face-up and empty. "No, sir. Don't. Don't say it."

"Cody?" Concerned, Obi-Wan looked _concerned_ , and more than that, Cody _felt_ that concern radiate out. No, no, he shouldn't be able to _sense_ people like that, he was getting _worse_.

"It's not what you think, sir," Cody insisted, but he knew _he_ felt terrified, the kind of fear he hadn't known since he was a cadet, during commander training. (They'd all felt it back then. Fear for their lives. Fear for one another. Fear of decommissioning, of not measuring up. He knew. He'd _felt_ it.) And he knew he wouldn't be able to hide that fear now that Obi-Wan was paying such close attention.

Frowning, Obi-Wan set his cup down again and folded his hands. "All right," he said calmly, responding to whatever he was picking up from Cody's ragged emotional state. "I don't need to say it. But I _am_ right, and it will be easier for you if we talk about this."

Inside Cody's mind, his trust in his general warred with his certainty that if this got out, he'd be decommissioned. Or worse, sent back to Kamino so the longnecks could find out what was _wrong_ with him, and he'd be _wishing_ for a decomm order. But finally he came forward again, coaxed by the calm radiating from Obi-Wan, the familiarity of the floral, spicy scent filling the air from the two mugs of tea, and sat.

"All right. Now . . . what do you _want_ to hear from me?"

It wasn't a question Cody had expected to hear. For a moment, he wasn't sure he _had_ heard it, that it wasn't just his imagination filling in the words to cover up the great cracking of the ice beneath his boots. "I . . ." He took a breath, then pulled off his gauntlets and dropped them into his helmet. It wasn't often he allowed himself to be so informal in his general's presence, but sometimes the situation called for it.

He wrapped his bare hands around the mug and soaked up the warmth, how _ordinary_ it felt. Grounding. This was something they did. Even now, after Obi-Wan _knew_ his secret. This hadn't changed. This was proof that not everything would change immediately.

"What kind of thing are you inclined to say?" he ventured.

Obi-Wan smiled, and it was the same kind smile Cody had seen him use when someone needed reassurance, clone or Jedi or civilian. "I'm _inclined_ to say that if this is something you'd rather no one else discover, I see no reason they should." He paused, possibly because he _knew_ that his first answer had set off another roaring in Cody's ears. "I'm also inclined to say that this explains a great deal about why you seem to have terrible headaches whenever Anakin is around for an extended period of time," he added dryly.

Cody grimaced. He'd hoped Obi-Wan hadn't noticed that. "Not all of it. Some of those headaches come from his battle strategies. I thought you'd assume I just didn't like him," he admitted.

"Oh, I did. But you've had such enjoyable conversations at my expense, I knew it couldn't be _only_ that you didn't like him."

That brought a little smile to Cody's lips, as Obi-Wan had likely been hoping it would. "Got plenty more of those conversations in mind."

"Delightful. I'm so pleased you're prepared to continue bonding over embarrassing stories centered upon me." Obi-Wan sighed, then brushed that aside. "As a Jedi, I'm not allowed to teach a non-Jedi sensitive I encounter. But . . . a clone isn't allowed to be sensitive either, if my suspicions are correct."

Cody looked down, another bolt of fear running through him, quick and hot as lightning. "You're right."

"Mm." Obi-Wan picked up his tea and took his time over the sip, savoring the scent and the flavor. "Well then. A few shielding techniques couldn't hurt. Just to make the upcoming tarnishing of my reputation easier for you. And . . . I won't tell if you won't." His eyes danced over the rim of the cup, and for the first time since his ghastly mistake, Cody felt a little ember of hope re-kindle itself inside his heart.

Maybe, around certain people—one certain person—he could let his guard down a little more often.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me at [voxmyriad](https://voxmyriad.tumblr.com) on Tumblr for more painful feels and AU speculation


End file.
